Britain Wants To Punish Microsoft for Being Too Successful
Britain's regulator says Microsoft's products are “useful,” “secure,” and “good value for money.” Apparently, that’s a problem.
Technology
A Months-Old Anti-Robotaxi Group Is Steering Transportation Policy From Albany to D.C.
Even though its claims about job loss and safety don't hold up, the group has convinced the likely next mayor of D.C. to slow Waymo's development.
Meta Is Gifting AI Glasses to Blind Veterans: 'I Got My Independence Back'
Meta's AI glasses carry privacy risks, but for blind veterans, they fill a gap that the government has failed to address.
Nobody Wants To Be the Pro-Tech Candidate in This New York Race That Could Flip the House
Republican incumbent Mike Lawler and Democratic challenger Cait Conley are trying to tie each other to the AI industry and data centers.
The Elizabeth Holmes Documentary You Can See Everything Is an Act of Radical Empathy
The high-concept documentary from Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim offers surprising generosity to a Big Tech villain without fully excusing her crimes.
Posting About This 'Robot Sexual Assault' in Germany Could Be a Crime
Let's unpack the latest dystopian tech news—and German cops' dystopian response.
Other Courts Should Heed a Federal Judge's Warning About Flock-Enabled Mass Surveillance
Car-tracking cameras, like cellphones, generate vast amounts of sensitive data.
SpaceX Found a Way Around the FCC
The company’s spectacular IPO obscured a quieter breakthrough that could transform satellite communications.
Don't Blame AI Labs for What Hackers Do With Their Tools
AI executives are planning for a public revolt after a major attack. A federal power grab is the wrong response.
Anthropic Is Banning 'Cruel Behavior' Toward Claude. Chatbots Are Still Not Your Friends.
The AI company's decision might be a justifiable idea. But it appears it was made for the wrong reason.
The Pentagon Is Eating Silicon Valley
An influx of military spending has been moving tech companies away from serving consumers and back toward chasing government contracts.
An App I'd Never Heard of Told My Patient I Was a Good Surgeon
Giving patients, and markets, more power in the healthcare system leads to better results.
Judge Says Warrantless Flock Search Violated Driver's Fourth Amendment Rights
The automated license plate reader system is “a type of indiscriminate mass surveillance," says a federal judge.
AI Solutions in Search of Problems
Plus: Ketamine deep dive, failed Oura IPO, Ray Dalio's warning, and more...
Federal Court Slaps Down Utah's VPN Restrictions
A judge blocked a rule that would have required adult sites to block VPNs or age-check the world.
Sam Altman Says 'Some Bad Things' Will Happen With AI. That Doesn't Mean We Should Stop It.
Progress has always required accepting risk.
The New Dark Ages Is Long on Alarm, Short on Scientific Literacy
The perils of blaming screens for everything
Who Will Own the Moon?
Property rights in space will attract investment, prevent space serfdom, and allow competition to flourish off-world.
The End of Social Media
Algorithms and short-form video drove engagement. They also made it easier to quit.
The Millennial Internet Is Dead, and Politicians Killed It.
Social media use is declining, and what's left has shifted from conversation to passive scrolling.
Anthropic vs. the Pope
Plus: The rape case and porn, cornrow canceling, and more...
Trump Wants AI Companies To Police Themselves. His FTC Isn't Waiting.
While the White House settles for a voluntary accord, the Federal Trade Commission is preparing subpoena-like demands and plans to compel testimony from frontier lab executives.
Your Right to Privacy Doesn't Disappear When You're in Public
Defenders of Flock-style surveillance systems argue that people “have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public.” They're wrong.
AI-Powered Concierge Government
Plus: FlyDubai flight to Tel Aviv forced to emergency-land, ICE hiring surge, and more...
Kids Are Using NPR Podcast Comments as Secret Group Chats
Teenagers barred from social media are turning obscure corners of the internet into makeshift chat rooms.
TikTok's $100 Million Settlement With Alabama Is No Win for the Public
TikTok must implement several new "safety" features, including time limits for kids and strict age-verification measures.
Seattle's 'Surveillance Pricing' Ban Is a Solution Searching for a Problem
The city's ordinance targets price gouging that its own evidence doesn't show—and it could kill discounts that save shoppers money.
Data Centers and Their Discontents
Plus: Talarico and black turnout, an artist trial at the Vatican, hospitals use AI (for ill), and more...
Is AI Going To Wipe Out Humanity? Don't Build That Bunker Yet.
Measures to slow AI development are more likely to trigger human lawsuits against AI companies than accomplish anything useful.
Half the Public Wants To Pause AI. Would Regulation Actually Make It Safer?
A new poll finds widespread support for slowing advanced AI, but government controls could create risks of their own.
Scan Your Face To Enter Your Dorm? University of Kentucky Installs Facial Recognition Tech Around Campus
The rationale for AI facial scanning—to prevent bad actors from following students into buildings—makes little sense.
Homeland Security Is Monitoring Activists Building Anti-Flock Tech
SparrowMap uses volunteer cameras to track the police in the same way police track the public. The government considers it a potential threat.
The 'AI Safety' Movement Is Making AI Less Safe
The fear of superintelligence is driving decisions that make AI less transparent and more consolidated.
California Wants to Write America's AI Rules
Newsom's expert panel has two months to consider new AI rules, including "kill switches," that could spread nationwide.
No Warrant, No Suspicion, No Problem: Flock and Border Cellphone Searches Excluded From 4th Amendment Rules
Cops keep carving out tech exceptions to the Fourth Amendment—and courts are giving them their blessing.
AI Companies Promise Humanoid Assistants. How Will the Robots Know What To Do?
Developers are using videos of real-life work to train the new generation of robots.
Is Effective Altruism Really a Doom Cult?
On the Freed Up podcast, Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi discuss effective altruism, Sydney Sweeney, and the UT Austin student body.
In the Name of Tax Fairness, Politicians Propose Special Tax Penalties on Data Centers
State and federal policymakers are attempting to exclude data centers from run-of-the-mill tax exemptions.
Congress Doesn't Agree on Much. Except That Your Car Needs AM Radio.
The push to mandate AM radios has brought Ted Cruz together with Bernie Sanders.
AI Could Make Our Lives Better. So Why Are We Trying To Stop It?
Anthropic's CEO wants federal regulation that would slow down AI (and his competitors' innovations). Has that ever worked?
Restoring Childhood Says It's Not Smartphones Making Teens Miserable. It's School.
Computers, video games, and the internet actually helped "restore childhood" in the 1990s, suggests psychologist Peter Gray in a new book. Then changes to our education system reversed those gains.
AI Executives Want International Regulation. They Could Just Slow Down Themselves.
Dario Amodei is calling for coordinated international limits on AI development while Anthropic prepares to go public.
Should Data Centers Go Seasteading?
With their reputation figuratively underwater, data centers might be going literally underwater too.
AI Slowdown
Plus: Commercial surrogacy regulation, Russian weapons, a new drug in San Francisco, and more...
AI Doom Is Misguided, Not a Psyop
The pro-AI side must avoid succumbing to paranoia and bad faith.
Trump's Bribe, AI Doom Psyop, and the Rapture
Trump's $5,000 bribe, stay-at-home moms, car insurance beefs, AI doom, 9/11 memories, Zelda rumors, rom-coms, and the Rapture—Freed Up somehow fits it all into one episode.
Why Conservative Republicans Are Worried About License Plate Cameras
Recent comments by Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis reflect a bipartisan backlash against warrantless surveillance.
